Judge agrees to postpone release of Taylor grand jury recordings
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A judge delayed until Friday the release of secret grand jury proceedings in Breonna Taylor’s killing by police so prosecutors can edit out witnesses’ names and personal information.
Audio recordings of the proceedings originally were supposed to be made public Wednesday, but AttorneyGeneral Daniel Cameron’s office asked a Louisville court for a week’s delay to remove details such as witnesses’ addresses and phone numbers.
OnWednesday, Judge Ann Bailey Smith granted a shorter delay, giving the attorney general until noon Friday.
Cameron’s office sought the delay “in the interest of protection of witnesses, and in particular private citizens named in the recordings,” according to its legal motion Wednesday. The recordings are 20 hours long.
Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville home by police executing a narcotics warrant in March. The grand jury decided this month not to charge any of the police officers involved with her death. Instead, one officer was chargedwith shooting into a neighboring home.
That decision angered many, and protesters took to the streets in Louisville and around the country to demand accountability for her killing, as frustrations spilled over after months of waiting for Cameron’s announcement. Activists and Taylor’s family called for the grandjury file to be released.
One of two Louisville police officers shot during protests last week called for law enforcement, protesters and other city residents to work together to move forward.
Maj. Aubrey Gregory, who was shot in the hip, returned to light duty earlier thisweek. He said fellow officer Robinson Desroches, who was shot in the abdomen, is still “in a lot of pain” and faces a longer recovery.
Gregory said he doesn’t blame all protesters for the actions of the gunman.
“Ifwe can’t come together to find solutions, then we’re not going anywhere,” Gregory said. “Violence has never been the answer and never will be.”
Authorities arrested 26-year-old Larynzo Johnson in the officer shootings, charging him with two counts of first-degree assault on a police officer and 14 counts of wanton endangerment. Johnson has pleaded not guilty.
Facing questions about the grand jury this week, Cameron acknowledged that he didn’t recommend homicide charges for the officers involved. Instead, he only recommended one of the officers be indicted, for the wanton endangerment of Taylor’s neighbors.
Cameron, a Republican protégé of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the state’s first African American attorney general, said the other two officers who fired their guns were justified because Taylor’s boyfriend had fired at them first.
Cameron said the record will show that his team “presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury.”